The present disclosure generally relates to a bone plate. The disclosure also relates to a bone plate system comprising the bone plate and a fastening member configured to cooperate with the bone plate, in particular for being used in orthopaedic surgical applications.
It is known to use bone plates for treating bone fractures. Specifically, for fixing two or more bone parts of a fractured bone with respect to each other, a bone plate is connected by fastening members such as screws to the two or more bone parts, thereby providing a structural support to the fractured bone and allowing the fractured bone to heal properly.
Due to the variability of the fracture lines and the limited bone volume into which the fastening members can be inserted, it is often important for a surgeon to have the possibility to freely select the insertion angle, i.e., the angle between the bone plate and the fastening member in an inserted state of the fastening member. It is also important that the selected insertion angle relative to the bone plate cannot change in the implanted state of the bone plate system. To this end, a variable angle locking mechanism for locking the bone plate with the fastening members needs to be provided. Such a variable angle locking mechanism is sometimes also called a polyaxial locking mechanism.
In addition, for providing a structural support to the fractured bone without pressing the bone plate onto the fractured bone, it is sometimes necessary that the interface between the bone plate and the fastening member is configured such that it provides a high bending resistance, i.e., a high resistance against deformation when a bending load is acting upon the fastening member.